I am a huge Mary Lou fan. She has a bubbly outgoing personaliy that the media eats up. Carly seems to be quieter and not as comfortable (yet?) with the media. That said, I hope that no one thinks of Carly as less of a champion than previous gymnists. Just because one does not become an instant media darling in no way diminishes the effort put in to become champion or the magnitude of their accomplishments.

I have to be truthful and say I was pulling for Slytvana Horkina... This being her last Olympics and the only gold that she hasnt won... She is a true DIVA!! Now as for Carly Patterson not being a media darling.. Yes, she is young and alittle stuck up on herself.. I hope as she gets older she will become more gracious.. I was really pulling for Courtney Kuppets to be the upset.. She has been very kind and sweet to everyone who has interviewed her.. Paul Hamm has been the true highlight of this Olympics.. He is the complete package!!!! What a gent!..............Peace

I don't see Carly as being stuck up she just doesn[t seem to be the Chatty Kathy type. I don't know if it's fear, shyness, or maybe she is just overwhelmed right now. Are these kids given any kind of media training as to how to be more comfortable in interviews? It would seem that after competing before the entire world, in a leotard, on that balance beam interviews would be a piece of cake.

I, too, was thinking that Ms. Patterson is no Mary Lou OR Shannon in the personality department, either, but then again, personality isn't everything. After all, Svetlana Khorkina has plenty of personality, but would you really want her at your dinner party?? That attitude of hers has, for me, worn completely thin. She's been on my list ever since she screamed at one of her teammates in Sydney for making a sizable error in the team competition, an error which, as I recall, wouldn't have been relevant had La Diva herself not made one earlier. That being said -- I think Khorkina would have won the gold if (A) she'd done more tumbling and less merely prancing about on the floor [tho I give her points for dropping the Blowing The Kiss To The Audience portion that she did in the team competition, as it is NOT overly convincing given her overall personality) and (B) if she hadn't rushed through her beam routine like she was double-parked. As I understand it, she'd gotten marked down for taking too much time between her elements in the team competition, but I think she took it too far the other way last night. The whole thing, to me, looked rushed and a bit sloppy.

I was glad that they showed Alanna Slater of Australia in the floor exercise; I remember the Australians being particularly interesting to watch on the floor in Sydney; I think they have the best sense of choreography of any of the teams, even if they don't have the big tricks.

And count me in as another viewer who was completely enthralled by Anna Pavlova; she's terrific and I would have loved to have seen her on the podium.

I really like Khorkina's personality. In the NBC fluff piece, she said she wanted a gold medal like she wanted to mother a child. Maybe the translator got a little creative but if that was close to what she said, that was a really nice way with words. I don't blame Khorkina for screaming at her teammate, etc, there is a lot of pressure put on her shoulders. Also Svetlana, unlike Carly, really helped her team in the team competition. I think that the team competition really took a lot out of Sveta's gymnastics b/c I think she had more fire in her for that comp than the AA.

As for those who think Carly is an angel, she was asked what her thoughts were during Sveta's program b/c she had such a smile on her face and Carly demurred from answering. I personally think that Carly knew she could beat Sveta's program and that was why she was smiling. These girls are competitors and top girls have to be arrogant and the true leaders , like Sveta seem overbearing, but sometimes you have to be that way in order to motivate people.

I'm thrilled that Carly won, but even more thrilled that she beat out Khorkina. I respect Sveta, but I think she is just way too pompous. I read that she hoped Carly would last as long as she has in the Olympics. News flash, Sveta, we don't have to stay in the Olympics for 20 years. In America, we further our education, get jobs, get married, have kids, and do what we want to.

Oh, and one more thing, Sveta, eat a piece of cake or something. You look like a spider on the uneven bars.

I certainly wanted to see Khorkina win. An adult sport should be for adults, not for children, and there hasn't been a non-teenage all-around champ since something like the 60's. Would have been nice to have one again.

I was rooting for Khorkina, mostly out of sentimentality in wanting to see her win the big one; However, I became a Carly fan last night. She was clean, powerful, gracious and sportsmanlike. A true winner.

Sveta made too many little breaks and errors. I also have to state that I'm also getting just a bit tired of her "diva shtick" after all these years. She was beaten fairly, yet there she goes again, pout, pout, the "judges will have to live with themselves for their decision." We don't need to see her latest modeling pictures at the post event press conference, nor did we need to have her try to draw all the attention away from Carly and Nan to herself, par usual. Yes, she's an Olympic Champion. To quote a certain figure skater, no-one can take that away from her, but last night she was NOT the Olympic Champion. Svetlana is a wonderful gymnast, and her diva antics used to be cute and funny, but this time around, she pushed it too far. In Sveta's mind, its always "all about me, me, me." Last night, it wasn't, and she just couldn't stand that. At least Carly and Nan had the decency to be sportsmanlike. No matter how coyly and cutely she tried to cover it up, Sveta was a plain, old sore loser. I will miss seeing her perform gymnastics. I won't miss her off the floor antics, they've grown old and stale.

In America, we further our education, get jobs, get married, have kids, and do what we want to.

Not if you're Michelle Kwan you don't!

Anyways, just because someone finds their passion early in life, doesn't mean that they are somehow worse off than those who switch careers several times. I think that the days of the evil Soviet empire forcing kids to do athletics is long gone. I think Svetlana is "doing what she wants to".

I think that the days of the evil Soviet empire forcing kids to do athletics is long gone. I think Svetlana is "doing what she wants to".

Kids did not actually get forced into it. If anything, if you didn't like it, you would not be kept in the programs. I did gymnastics when I was little. I have always been really short and I am rather flexible, so coaches would see me and be willing to take me into any elite-heading class. However, they would soon discover that while I liked gymnastics, I absolutely lacked the need-to-win attitude. I would then be swiftly kicked out. My point is that even in the old Soviet days kids who really didn't want to do it didn't.

Maybe so, Ptichka, you would know more about Russia than most of us. However, to paraphrase the great coach Mishin, "A hungry dog runs faster than one with a full stomach". My point is we have a lot more opportunity here to do something besides sport.

As for Michelle Kwan, I guess she still likes to compete, and she usually wins, without all the Diva antics that Sveta displays. I'm sure she'll be successful in whatever she decides to do after she retires from skating.

I am curious about another former gymnast from Russia (or was it Ukraine?). Do any of you hear anything about Sveta Boguinskaya? She was always one of my favorites, and I always rooted for her to win. She was a diva, too, but not on the level of Khorkina. What's she up to?